The Syracuse University forward was feted Wednesday night as king of the Maui Invitational, an honor bestowed upon the most valuable player of a tournament the Orange continues to dominate. Fair scored 24 points Wednesday. He took 17 shots and sank 10 of them, including two jumpers during a critical juncture of the second half that helped the Orange stave off a determined Baylor team, 74-67.

It has been quite a week for the senior from Baltimore. On Monday, he absorbed a wayward blow to his face, a gash that inspired lurid photographs and needed 11 stitches to close. Two days later, he was instrumental in helping SU claim its third Maui Invitational.

"It was a great week. We're 3-0 here. It's always good when you win. You enjoy yourself," Fair said. "For me to provide for my team in the championship, it means a lot that I didn't let my team down."

Fair averaged 18 points over the course of the tournament and played 38.7 minutes per game here. But his efficiency from the floor took an early tournament hit. He struggled, at times, to shoot the ball as defenses doubled him, then collapsed when he attempted to get to the rim.

On Wednesday, he started the night by sinking an 18-footer, then followed that jump shot with a 3-pointer that gave the Orange an 8-2 lead.

"The first two games I didn't really get a good groove," Fair said. "This game, it was good to see my first couple shots go in. That was good for me."

SU felt the weight of his importance in the waning moments of Wednesday's championship game. Baylor crushed Syracuse on the backboards. The Bears outrebounded SU 33-21 and went to the glass hard after every missed shot late in the game.

But Fair sank mid-range jump shots to keep SU on the right side of the scoring ledger. He made one from the baseline off a pass from Trevor Cooney to get SU to 56-48. He swished another baseline jumper to give Syracuse a 61-52 lead. He sank an 18-footer from up top to increase SU's lead to 68-60. Then he sank another one, this time to provide the Orange a 70-62 advantage.

"C.J. Fair came up really big. He made the jumpers," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "He's a good player. And as a coach, you can lose to guys making tough shots."

"I knew I had to make plays," Fair said, "and coach was running plays for me. A lot of teams were taking away my drive. But once I'm in the mid-range area, I think I'm in my sweet spot pulling up for the jumper."

SU coach Jim Boeheim said he and his staff introduced a new play for the Maui Invitational to free Fair for shots. Fair wasn't sure when the play was unveiled, but he was certain the SU staff instituted it after the team arrived in Maui.

"Jerami and Rakeem, or whoever the big was, they were setting me a baseline screen," Fair said. "If I wasn't open, they reversed it and set another screen just to try to get me open."

Boeheim seemed pleased with the success of that play. The SU coach said before the season started that he would lean on Fair, that he would design plays to showcase the ACC's preseason player-of-the-year.

And on Wednesday, Fair's execution of his coach's faith in him helped the Orange hoist another Maui Invitational trophy. For Fair, after a week that included the now infamous "bloody dunk," a tournament MVP was the pinnacle of a productive week.

That he played well with his parents, his sister and his girlfriend in attendance only made the moment sweeter.